Dynamic omnivory shapes the functional role of large carnivores under global change
(2025) In Nature Communications- Abstract
- Omnivory is increasingly recognized as a dynamic stabilizing force under environmental change. Despite its ubiquity across ecosystems, trophic levels and spatiotemporal scales, our empirical understanding of how omnivores respond to changing conditions in terrestrial ecosystems is limited. Here we combine macroecological and paleoecological approaches across seven bear species—the largest terrestrial carnivores—and discover they dynamically adapt their trophic position in food webs to resource availability. Throughout their ranges, bears shift to carnivory in unproductive ecosystems with short growing seasons and to herbivory in productive ecosystems with long growing seasons. In line with this, isotopic evidence from the Late Pleistocene... (More)
- Omnivory is increasingly recognized as a dynamic stabilizing force under environmental change. Despite its ubiquity across ecosystems, trophic levels and spatiotemporal scales, our empirical understanding of how omnivores respond to changing conditions in terrestrial ecosystems is limited. Here we combine macroecological and paleoecological approaches across seven bear species—the largest terrestrial carnivores—and discover they dynamically adapt their trophic position in food webs to resource availability. Throughout their ranges, bears shift to carnivory in unproductive ecosystems with short growing seasons and to herbivory in productive ecosystems with long growing seasons. In line with this, isotopic evidence from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene reveals a sharp decrease in the trophic position of the European brown bear in response to increasing net primary productivity and growing season length. These findings reveal a mechanism of trophic rewiring that alters the functional role of large carnivores in ecosystems and may simultaneously stabilize food web dynamics under global change.
Similar content being view (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Omnivory is increasingly recognized as a dynamic stabilizing force under
environmental change. Despite its ubiquity across ecosystems, trophic levels
and spatiotemporal scales, our empirical understanding of how omnivores
respond to changing conditions in terrestrial ecosystems is limited. Here we
combine macroecological and paleoecological approaches across seven bear
species—the largest terrestrial carnivores—and discover they dynamically
adapt their trophic position in food webs to resource availability. Throughout
their ranges, bears shift to carnivory in unproductive ecosystems with short
growing seasons and to herbivory in productive ecosystems with long growing
seasons. In line with this, isotopic... (More) - Omnivory is increasingly recognized as a dynamic stabilizing force under
environmental change. Despite its ubiquity across ecosystems, trophic levels
and spatiotemporal scales, our empirical understanding of how omnivores
respond to changing conditions in terrestrial ecosystems is limited. Here we
combine macroecological and paleoecological approaches across seven bear
species—the largest terrestrial carnivores—and discover they dynamically
adapt their trophic position in food webs to resource availability. Throughout
their ranges, bears shift to carnivory in unproductive ecosystems with short
growing seasons and to herbivory in productive ecosystems with long growing
seasons. In line with this, isotopic evidence from the Late Pleistocene and
Holocene reveals a sharp decrease in the trophic position of the European
brown bear in response to increasing net primary productivity and growing
season length. These ndings reveal a mechanism of trophic rewiring that
alters the functional role of large carnivores in ecosystems and may simulta-
neously stabilize food web dynamics under global change. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/0cea3a7b-93ce-47c9-b2c6-473df05bd21b
- author
- Albrecht, Jörg ; Iregren, Elisabeth LU and Selva, Nuria
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-12-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- in
- Nature Communications
- issue
- 16
- article number
- 10896
- pages
- 12 pages
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:41339618
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41467-025-65959-7
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0cea3a7b-93ce-47c9-b2c6-473df05bd21b
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-14 10:48:15
- date last changed
- 2026-01-24 03:00:02
@article{0cea3a7b-93ce-47c9-b2c6-473df05bd21b,
abstract = {{Omnivory is increasingly recognized as a dynamic stabilizing force under environmental change. Despite its ubiquity across ecosystems, trophic levels and spatiotemporal scales, our empirical understanding of how omnivores respond to changing conditions in terrestrial ecosystems is limited. Here we combine macroecological and paleoecological approaches across seven bear species—the largest terrestrial carnivores—and discover they dynamically adapt their trophic position in food webs to resource availability. Throughout their ranges, bears shift to carnivory in unproductive ecosystems with short growing seasons and to herbivory in productive ecosystems with long growing seasons. In line with this, isotopic evidence from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene reveals a sharp decrease in the trophic position of the European brown bear in response to increasing net primary productivity and growing season length. These findings reveal a mechanism of trophic rewiring that alters the functional role of large carnivores in ecosystems and may simultaneously stabilize food web dynamics under global change.<br/>Similar content being view}},
author = {{Albrecht, Jörg and Iregren, Elisabeth and Selva, Nuria}},
issn = {{2041-1723}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
number = {{16}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Nature Communications}},
title = {{Dynamic omnivory shapes the functional role of large carnivores under global change}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65959-7}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41467-025-65959-7}},
year = {{2025}},
}